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It may be a mundane task but cleaning and tidying your bedroom daily can set you up for the rest of the day. With ‘Make Your Bed Day’ encouraging us to make this a daily feature, we look at how a tidy bedroom and a made bed affects our attitude.
William McRaven is a retired United States Navy admiral and he is often quoted as saying that to change the world, you need to start by making your bed. This discipline is one of the first things introduced to young recruits and something he believes in.
But why? Why is so much importance attached to making your bed and keeping your bedroom tidy? After all, it is your own personal space, surely it is up to you to decide how and what you do with it?
#1 Feeling accomplished
When was the last time you had a real feeling of accomplishment? Sometimes, the biggest accomplishments in life come from the small things like emptying the overflowing bin in your bedroom or hanging your clean clothes instead of dumping them in one big messy pile on your bedroom bucket chair.
Or making your bed. Or spending a few minutes tidying your bedroom.
Experts say that these few minutes in a morning tidying your boudoir are well spent. Try it and you will feel a positive tone colour the rest of your day.
How to make it a habit – for something to become a habit, you need to perform the task without fail for at least seven days. Set yourself a target of tidying your bedroom every day for the next week and you’ll find it soon slips into your morning routine to do it.
#2 Be more productive
September in the UK is an important month in the educational calendar. Students will be starting their GCSE or A Level year as there are those who will be starting college and university courses. And that means many young people living away from home for the first time.
There is a lot to get used to. As well as making sure you are up in time for lectures, you have a workload to balance, all the while staying motivated.
It may be a small thing but returning to what William McRaven said about making the bed, he went on to embellish his theory by saying small tasks means ‘things ticked off lists’. These small steps mean that you are being productive.
#3 Reduce your stress
Do you smile with happiness when you can’t find something?
No one can live stress-free in an environment where clutter stops the flow of life from finding clean underwear quickly and easily in the morning or where the clutter prevents you from having the study space you need.
Whether you are a student at university or a middle-aged professional, a tidy bedroom with a made bed is a delight to return to at the end of a busy day.
And less stress means a healthier mind, body and soul.
#4 Fresher, cleaner, more inviting and healthier
The bedroom is an important space for everyone. It is the place you allow your mind and body to rest but trying to rejuvenate your body in a space that is not only untidy but unclean is impossible.
Less clutter means easier cleaning, from a daily sweep or vacuum of the floor to a quick wipe down of the surfaces in the room, this means there are fewer dust mites and other allergens lurking in the space.
And that means a healthier bedroom.
#5 Develops and maintains ‘good’ habits
Good manners may be a very ‘British thing’ but there is some truth that following a routine, a ritualistic set of behaviours, is good for us.
There is a psychological theory that when we indulge in one good thing, another good thing follows. Thus, instead of piling your clothes on your bedroom bucket chair, you tidy your clothes away.
Keep this up and you’ll find you start to do this in other areas of the home too. The tea towels in the kitchen will be folded rather than left scrunched up on the side.
You’ll wash your cup or put it straight in the dishwasher. You will wipe things down more often… the list goes on but the effect is amazing: a clean, restful zen of a home!
#6 A retreat
Life is busy. There are more pressures than ever to be more than ‘good enough’. We are constantly connected, admiring other people’s seemingly perfect lives.
Looking after our mental health is essential and your bedroom could be the retreat you need to switch off from everyday life. But you can’t do that or you won’t feel the same feelings of safety and security walking into a messy bedroom…
Office and marketing manager for Sloane & Sons Stylish Chairs, who sell a range of high-quality tub chairs, accent chairs and more.
